Remnants of the Heart | Kim Taehyung

04: apprend

ACT 1 — SCENE 4
SHE LEARNS.

       SEOJUNG'S FIRST week of summer is as dull as any boring summer can get. Her days consists of walking around the house when her butt becomes too tired of sitting down all day, and nights spent binge-watching dramas or rereading her favorite novels for the nth time. There are rare occasions that she and her friends go out, but that's a once in a blue moon kind of thing because most of them are already out of town for vacation. Meanwhile, she's stuck here, in the lamest neighborhood busan probably has. She has never realized how quiet the house is now that she's home all day. Her parents are always off at work and her brother's almost always out, doing god knows what. She has no one but Haeko as her company, her one-year-old border collie who sleeps more than he eats.

Deciding that now is a good time to go for a walk and get her dog to stop being a lazy ass, Seojung changes into a t-shirt and shorts, ties her hair up into a ponytail and grabs Haeko's collar and leash. Haeko waits for her in the living room, lounging on top of the couch as she expected. Seojung forcefully wakes him up and pushes him to the floor. She looks out the window as she puts the collar on her dog, can notice that the summer heat is finally starting to kick in.

Contrary to popular belief, Haeko's a pretty hyper dog once he knows it's time to get out. The pup wiggles its tail excitingly as Seojung struggles to lock the front door and hold the leash at the same time. Haeko's a little too excited, she can tell from the way he's barking and tugging her forward. Tugs a little too hard that the leash slips out of Seojung grasp. Haeko starts sprinting across the front yard in joy.

"Haeko!" she shouts. No way in hell is Seojung going to spend the rest of the day chasing around her hyper puppy. But at the end of her front yard is Taehyung, who is crouching down with arms open to welcome Haeko into a hug. A small smile creeps up Seojung's lips at the sight. It should really be a crime to put kim Taehyung and dogs in one picture.

"Someone's excited." Taehyung coddles Haeko in his arms as if he's a baby. Seojung's convinced that her dog loves Taehyung more than he loves her. Whenever Taehyung came over, Haeko would always be fast on his feet, running to the boy in mere seconds.

"I'm taking him for a walk. No one usually does, make sense if he gets this energetic."

"Is your brother home?" Taehyung asks as he tries to keep Haeko from licking his face.

"No. You guys finally on good terms?"

"Not even close. I'm trying to reach out to him again. Figured I can at least put all my effort before he leaves for college. But since he's not here, mind if I tag along?"

Seojung's heart skips a beat. Suddenly she feels self-conscious, wishing she put more effort into dressing up rather than throwing on the first thing she sees. Haeko, as if he understood everything Taehyung said, starts barking excitedly in Taehyung's arms.

"Not at all. Haeko seems to love you."

Taehyung puts Haeko down and hands the leash back to Seojung, motioning for her to lead the way. She starts walking with Taehyung by her side. The sun is warm on her skin but she feels like her body is heating up because of way different things. It's during moments like these that she wishes to be fluent in starting conversations. Perhaps the awkwardness is only on her part, because Taehyung looks to be enjoying the bright day as if nothing troubles him, though it's still awkward nonetheless. But then again, this is Taehyung she's talking about. Words would always die on the tip of her tongue when it comes to him. Wishes she isn't this whipped, wonders if that's even the correct term for her situation. What is she? Lovestruck? Boy-crazy? Infatuated?